Mark Morris Dance Group
A socially minded New York dance company brings four works to the Opera House.
Overview
The Mark Morris Dance Group and Music Ensemble arrives at the Opera House with four Australian premiere works. The company, which generally tours, teaches and contributes to community in its New York stomping ground, aims to make modern dance and music accessible to all (note: a dance development program for people living with Parkinson's coincides with this tour).
The company’s founder and namesake, Mark Morris, is known for joyful and witty works that attempt to shake up the dance world. A conductor and opera director (as well as dancer/choreographer), Morris makes dance works that have an intrinsic union with music. The company rehearses and performs with its own collective of musicians, so that music is one part of an evolving conversation between sound and movement, never an afterthought.
The work of Mark Morris Dance Group is so invigorating, it prompted Fergus Linehan, former Sydney Festival director to remark, “Anyone who is interested in music, dance and art generally in the 20th and 21st century must see this work.”